'04 Mustang Going Chevy
02-06-2012, 10:31 AM
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'04 Mustang Going Chevy I don't post very much, but i've been a lurker for many years and I finally have something to post that's worthwhile.
Some background:
I purchased a 2004 Mustang GT new in 2004 and it has been an on-going project ever since. The first setup consisted of simple bolt-ons and a 75 dry shot. I ended up running 11.94@113 mph on a 16" ET Street. I then switched to a Novi 2000 and had more clutch issues than I can count. I only ran a best of 12.0@120 mph with the Novi. I ended up getting real big into autox and track rentals and started to get away from drag racing.
Fast forward to 2006 and I lost the stock motor due to a bad tune. 390 rwhp/415 rwtq
. I tore the car down to a shell and started over. I swapped the suspension out for all tubular front pieces and coil-overs and the rear out for a built IRS on coil-overs. A built motor was purchased that was designed for boost and I backed it with a T56. The car sat as a shell from 2006 to late 2008 before she was back on the road N/A making 288 rwhp.
I had a blast dominating my local autox's and what not, but I knew that I wanted more power and the car was built to handle any power I wanted to throw at it so down she went again in 2010 for about 8 months for a turbo build. I had a stainless hotside built that used a GTQ72 turbo and she put down 598 rwhp/650 rwtq @ 15 lbs. The car was absolutely useless at an autox because of the way the torque came in and I decided that I wanted back into drag racing.
Before I could switch the car over to an auto and up the boost, I lost my built motor. I only went into boost about a dozen times on the built motor so I was not happy. Come to find out my built 4.6 wasn't built like I had payed for. Mahle pistons were used instead of the CP's I paid for, the motor was standard bore, not .020 over like I paid for, and the custom fly-cuts I paid to have done were done with what looks to be a 5 yr old and a Dremel tool... I was not happy and shut the idea of a modular motor down all together. Not only was my motor not at all what I had payed for, I couldn't find a tuner that was competent enough to push to the level I wanted it at.
Time for a LS based motor! I searched for a long time and tried getting the best deal that I absolutely could. Well, patience paid off because I found the deal of the century! I picked up a 6.0 shortblock, 317 heads, complete LM7 5.3 (disassembled), all of the truck accessories, oil pan, complete truck intake, Strange struts w/ brand new UPR coil-overs, Strange shocks, Hurst Quarter Stick shifter, and even had it delivered for $1,500. I was told that the 6.0 is out of an 04-06 Denali with around 60,000 miles on it and I don't even believe that it had that many on it. The motor looks nearly brand new!
I'm very excited about this project and will post any updates I have when they happen. I've learned a lot on this forum by searching and i'm glad this knowledge base is here. Thanks ls1tech.com!!!!
The turbo 4.6 2valve I started with:
Motor out and in desperate need of cleaning!
After about 5 hours of cleaning and removing stuff I didn't need: (note: I still need to remove the a/c, power steering, and power brakes)
New stuff arrived:
Got the Strange struts and coil-overs mounted:
My shop puppy:
The 6.0 up on the stand:
I need to order my UPR engine mount adapters so I can put the bare 5.3 block in the car with it's heads and start building my turbo kit. I'm hoping to have the 5.3 in the car for mock-up this coming weekend. I still have a long way to go, but i'm making progress. Slowly, but progress is progress right?
Some background:
I purchased a 2004 Mustang GT new in 2004 and it has been an on-going project ever since. The first setup consisted of simple bolt-ons and a 75 dry shot. I ended up running 11.94@113 mph on a 16" ET Street. I then switched to a Novi 2000 and had more clutch issues than I can count. I only ran a best of 12.0@120 mph with the Novi. I ended up getting real big into autox and track rentals and started to get away from drag racing.
Fast forward to 2006 and I lost the stock motor due to a bad tune. 390 rwhp/415 rwtq
. I tore the car down to a shell and started over. I swapped the suspension out for all tubular front pieces and coil-overs and the rear out for a built IRS on coil-overs. A built motor was purchased that was designed for boost and I backed it with a T56. The car sat as a shell from 2006 to late 2008 before she was back on the road N/A making 288 rwhp. I had a blast dominating my local autox's and what not, but I knew that I wanted more power and the car was built to handle any power I wanted to throw at it so down she went again in 2010 for about 8 months for a turbo build. I had a stainless hotside built that used a GTQ72 turbo and she put down 598 rwhp/650 rwtq @ 15 lbs. The car was absolutely useless at an autox because of the way the torque came in and I decided that I wanted back into drag racing.
Before I could switch the car over to an auto and up the boost, I lost my built motor. I only went into boost about a dozen times on the built motor so I was not happy. Come to find out my built 4.6 wasn't built like I had payed for. Mahle pistons were used instead of the CP's I paid for, the motor was standard bore, not .020 over like I paid for, and the custom fly-cuts I paid to have done were done with what looks to be a 5 yr old and a Dremel tool... I was not happy and shut the idea of a modular motor down all together. Not only was my motor not at all what I had payed for, I couldn't find a tuner that was competent enough to push to the level I wanted it at.
Time for a LS based motor! I searched for a long time and tried getting the best deal that I absolutely could. Well, patience paid off because I found the deal of the century! I picked up a 6.0 shortblock, 317 heads, complete LM7 5.3 (disassembled), all of the truck accessories, oil pan, complete truck intake, Strange struts w/ brand new UPR coil-overs, Strange shocks, Hurst Quarter Stick shifter, and even had it delivered for $1,500. I was told that the 6.0 is out of an 04-06 Denali with around 60,000 miles on it and I don't even believe that it had that many on it. The motor looks nearly brand new!
I'm very excited about this project and will post any updates I have when they happen. I've learned a lot on this forum by searching and i'm glad this knowledge base is here. Thanks ls1tech.com!!!!
The turbo 4.6 2valve I started with:
Motor out and in desperate need of cleaning!
After about 5 hours of cleaning and removing stuff I didn't need: (note: I still need to remove the a/c, power steering, and power brakes)
New stuff arrived:
Got the Strange struts and coil-overs mounted:
My shop puppy:
The 6.0 up on the stand:
I need to order my UPR engine mount adapters so I can put the bare 5.3 block in the car with it's heads and start building my turbo kit. I'm hoping to have the 5.3 in the car for mock-up this coming weekend. I still have a long way to go, but i'm making progress. Slowly, but progress is progress right?
02-06-2012, 10:33 AM
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Forgot to ask in my original post, can anyone tell me which head studs I need to order? I know there is a difference between pre and post 05 blocks and I don't know how to tell what mine is. Thank you for any help!
02-09-2012, 05:47 PM
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Made some progress today. I wanted to get the 5.3 in there for some mock up and i'm very glad I have a mock up motor and just didn't try to do this all in one shot lol.
The UPR motor mount adapters. These are very nice pieces! Very thick and lets me use my stock 4.6 mounts which I found out are shot or about to be shot and need to be replaced. I guess 650 rwtq did some abuse....
All ready to be dropped in for mock up:
And after a lot of finagling, she's in.
The good:
-I have MUCH more room than I thought I was going to.
-I love the mount adapters.
-I'm excited.
The bad:
-The stock truck pan does NOT work in my application. It's sitting about 1/2" on the ground as you can see in the pics and that's without the extra weight of the turbo, heads, etc. on the front.
-Motor mounts are shot and they won't hold my motor steady so i'm going to go for some solid mounts for the 6.0, but I will be using a piece of wood or something to hold the mock motor up in it's final location for now.
The UPR motor mount adapters. These are very nice pieces! Very thick and lets me use my stock 4.6 mounts which I found out are shot or about to be shot and need to be replaced. I guess 650 rwtq did some abuse....
All ready to be dropped in for mock up:
And after a lot of finagling, she's in.
The good:
-I have MUCH more room than I thought I was going to.
-I love the mount adapters.
-I'm excited.
The bad:
-The stock truck pan does NOT work in my application. It's sitting about 1/2" on the ground as you can see in the pics and that's without the extra weight of the turbo, heads, etc. on the front.
-Motor mounts are shot and they won't hold my motor steady so i'm going to go for some solid mounts for the 6.0, but I will be using a piece of wood or something to hold the mock motor up in it's final location for now.
02-09-2012, 07:50 PM
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The motor on the stand being built is a 6.0 and that will be the motor that actually makes the car move.
The motor in the engine bay currently is a stripped out 5.3 so I can mock up the turbo kit.
02-10-2012, 07:00 PM
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The stock Chevy stuff can handle just as much power as my "built" 2valve stuff, no more paying a tuner $1,000 to blow my car up, the simplicity of a pushrod motor over an OHC motor, Chevy stuff is much, much cheaper and more common than the mod motor goodies, etc.
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02-10-2012, 07:10 PM
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But paying $600 for a new 6.0 shortblock is a lot better than paying $3,000 every time my mod motor blows up.
02-10-2012, 07:22 PM
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Cool.
02-10-2012, 07:41 PM
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Made some progress today. I slapped the 5.3 heads on and manifolds so I can start laying out the hotside piping. I'm going to have the v-bands welded on so that the manifold exits will face straight out and not down like they are now. I have a ton of options though.
Just for ***** and giggles, I stuck the stock truck manifold on the top to see how the stock hood is going to clear the carb. I MAY be good, but i'm trying to pick up a 3" cowl anyways so that I won't have to worry about it. The stock truck intake is almost 12" tall in some parts which is roughly the same height of the GMPP intake manifold, carb, and carb hat, but the truck intake is also much longer and protrudes out to the front much more.
Just for ***** and giggles, I stuck the stock truck manifold on the top to see how the stock hood is going to clear the carb. I MAY be good, but i'm trying to pick up a 3" cowl anyways so that I won't have to worry about it. The stock truck intake is almost 12" tall in some parts which is roughly the same height of the GMPP intake manifold, carb, and carb hat, but the truck intake is also much longer and protrudes out to the front much more.
02-11-2012, 11:43 AM
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The a/c, power steering, and brakes still need to come out though. Well maybe not the power steering and brakes. I am still very undecided on that option. A/C i'm not worried about since I have used it maybe a dozen times during the 8 years of owning the car and I hardly ever drive the Mustang anyways.
02-12-2012, 11:38 AM
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I'm going to follow this build closely. I plan on putting an LSX376 in an 05-06 Mustang. A light rear wheel drive late model car with LSX power. Never owned a FORD in 59 years but I can't find a late model RWD GM anything worth building. So it is what it is.
03-02-2012, 09:05 PM
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It's been a while since i've updated this, but new parts have arrived in the past few weeks and I got some work done on the car today.
First of all, my intake is here!! I scored a GMPP single plane which is the lowest intake on the market to my knowledge. It looks nice and it may let me keep my stock hood.
I see some port work in my future
Next to the stock truck intake:
And sitting on top of the mock-up motor:
I "think" I may be able to get a carb and hat under there. If I can't, it should be close enough to where I can cut the hood up a little bit and get the hat under the stock GT scoop. I figure i've got around 3-4" of wiggle room if I break out the dremel.
With some help from a friend (GenevaFJ), I got the rear axle out of the car, stripped of the internals, and cleaned up ready to be sent to TRZ for internals and rear suspension work.
Before:
After:
And how she's sitting now
First of all, my intake is here!! I scored a GMPP single plane which is the lowest intake on the market to my knowledge. It looks nice and it may let me keep my stock hood.
I see some port work in my future
Next to the stock truck intake:
And sitting on top of the mock-up motor:
I "think" I may be able to get a carb and hat under there. If I can't, it should be close enough to where I can cut the hood up a little bit and get the hat under the stock GT scoop. I figure i've got around 3-4" of wiggle room if I break out the dremel.
With some help from a friend (GenevaFJ), I got the rear axle out of the car, stripped of the internals, and cleaned up ready to be sent to TRZ for internals and rear suspension work.
Before:
After:
And how she's sitting now
